Method of printing and device therefor



Feb. 8', 1938. L. H. AMDUR METHOD OF PRINTING AND DEVICE THEREFOR FiledDec. 15, 1934 Fig.1

INVENTOR. X1 7% M Patented Feb. 8, 1938 lJNiED STATES orr cs METHOD OFPRINTING AND DEVICE THEREFOR 30 Claims.

This invention relates to the broad art of printing, including withinthe term printing practically all methods of reproducing or duplicatingor making copies of compositions or printed matter. Included within suchmethods are: printing from inked type, Mimeography and Multigraphy,photo-lithic and photo-engraving methods, such as off-set printing,typewriting, printing from plates of type which may be flat orcylindrical, etc.

This invention, therefore, involves a new art of printing andduplicating, The invention, also, involves a new method of securingjustification of type. The invention includes, also, a device orinstrumentality useful in carrying out the novel method of printing andduplicating and the novel method of type justification, more fullydescribed hereinafter.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularlyenumerated will be understood from the following detailed description ofthe same. It is to be understood that this detailed description is notto be taken in a limiting sense since the scope of my invention is bestdefined by the appended claims. An illustrative embodiment disclosingthe improvements of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing,in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of several words, beforejustification;

Fig. 2 is also a diagrammatic plan view of the same words, afterjustification;

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the backers held in the bars, with thespacers removed;

Fig. 4 is a side view of a backer.

Before entering into the description of the invention, it should firstbe noted that the term justification or justify means to cause thecharacters (and this includes letters, numerals and punctuations) tofully and completely occupy the particular line of print. For example,the lines typed by a typewriter are not justified, as will readily beseen by the irregular right ends of typewritten lines. The left ends ofthe lines are, of course, uniform, but the right ends depend upon thelast letter typed, and, in practically most instances, the last lettertyped will not completely fill out the line.

remain jagged and irregular.

In printed matter, as distinguished from work done on typewriters, thelines are justified. That is, not only are the left ends of the linesaligned in the same vertical line (left margin), but also the right endsof the lines are aligned in the There being no. further step or means ofjustifying, the right ends same vertical line (right margin). The stepor procedure whereby the right ends of the lines are caused to becomealigned in the right marginal (vertical) line is called justification.Such lines of characters are termed justified lines. It is evident thata justified line is one in which the characters fully and completelyfill the line from the left margin to the right margin line.

In the linotype method of printing and in some 10 other methods,justification is accomplished by increasing the spaces between words.The letters themselves are not changed in size; that is, they remain thesame size, (more particularly, width) in the justified line as they didin the 15 unjustified line. The letters are, however, shifted somewhatto the right due to the fact that the spaces between the Words have beenincreased.

To illustrate the step of justifying and referring to Figures 1 and 2,the left marginal line is 20 designated l in both figures, and the rightmarginal line is designated 2. The letter (or other character) types aredesignated a, and the means for providing proper spaces between words(called in the trade, space-bands, and herein termed 25 spacers) aredesignated b. The spacers b, as already intimated, also provide themeans for justification.

Figures 1 and 2 show eight letters forming three words, and also twospaces, between adja- 30 and between the second and third words, respec-40 tively.

. Instead of the unjustified line of type reaching to the point 3, shortof the right margin line 2 and the spacers then being expanded to causethe line of type to reach to the margin line 2, the unjustified line oftype may reach to point 4, beyond the right margin line and the spacersmay then be contracted to cause the line of type to be compressedbetween the left margin line 6- l and the right margin line 2.

It has been previously stated that the letter (or numeral or othercharacter) type is designated a in Figs. 1 and 2. As a matter of fact,

the pieces designated a do not bear types or other be one which willremain moist until the actual any convenient manner.

character formations. The letter, numeral, punctuation or othercharacters are formed (in manners subsequently more fully described) ina continuous ribbon of paper or other flexible material, designated 0(see Figs. 1 and. 2).

The pieces a merely serve as backers or foundations or bases for thecharacter-bearing ribbon c. The pieces a will henceforth be designatedbackers.

In Figures 1 and 2 the backers a. are shown to be of uniform size, andmore particularly, of uniform width. The widths of the backers may,manifestly, be made of different widths to correspond with the width ofthe character formed on the ribbon c and which the backer is provided toback or secure. For example, a backer provided as a base or back for theletter m formed in the ribbon may be wider than the backer provided forthe letter i, for example.

It has been previously stated that the characters (whether letter,numeral or punctuation) are formed in or on the ribbon c. in which thecharacters are formed on or upon the ribbon will depend upon theparticular kind of printing to be done, which might be printing fromink, photolithographic, mimeographing and so on. (The step of actualprinting and the various kinds of printing will be more fully discussedhereinafter). At this time, only the formation of characters upon theribbon (from which copies may be made) is being considered.

Among the many ways in which characters may be formed upon the ribbonmay be enumerated: The characters may be type upon the ribbon. The inkto be used should preferably printing (from the justified ribbon) isconsummated. The characters may be typed upon the ribbon by means ofsome appropriate typewriter mechanism, or the typing may be done inWhere the characters are formed upon the ribbon by typing, the ribbonmay be made of paper or fabric etc.

The character-formation may be by perforating the ribbon; i. e. inmaking a stencil. This method of character forming would seemappropriate where the actual printing is to be mimeographic. Theperforation may be achieved by a typewriting mechanism (less the inkribbon, as is well-known) or may be achieved by an appropriate punchingmechanism, or die etc. The ribbon may be paper, flexible board,papier-mache, cloth, fabric; or even a thin, light flexible metallicribbon may be used.

When the characters are formed by stenciling or perforating, the facesof the backers against Which the ribbon bears may be inked, so that aninked character appears in place of the perforation. This face of thebacker may, of course, be'specially prepared or coated to be receptiveto ink.

The characters may be formed upon the ribbon by embossing. Appropriatedies (male and female or either) may be used. The ribbon may be made ofpaper, as papier-mache, to maintain the impressed characters, or it maybe made of appropriate metal or fabric. The embossed characters formedupon the ribbon (after justification) may then be inked and the actualprinting then consummated. Or, the characters may be engraved upon aribbon of appropriate material, from which intaglio printing may beachieved.

It might be well at this time to list in order of The manner occurrencethe broad steps of this new method of printing; these are:

. Ribbon preparation Character formation Ribbon crimping AssemblingJustifying Printing (1) The ribbon preparation step includes thesupplying of the ribbon and the cutting of the ribbon in the properlengths. The length of the ribbon upon which the letters making up thewords appearing upon a particular line, together with punctuations, areformed, is, at least equal to the length of the line; it is, in fact,always somewhat longer than the length of the line, as will be describedmore fully following. Manifestly the ribbon may be supplied in stripsalready cut to the proper length.

It has been previously stated that the kind of mechanism required forthe formation of characters upon the ribbon will depend upon theparticular method of forming the characters, as typing, perforating,embossing, engraving etc. It was also stated that a typewriter mechanismmay be used to achieve the character-formation. For simplicity in theensuing description it will be assumed that the characters are to betyped upon the ribbon and that a typewriter is provided and adapted toperform the typing.

The typewriter must be modified and provided with the properinstrumentalities to enable it to type upon a ribbon. In the firstplace, the typewriter must be provided with a means for holding theribbon-preferably in the form of a spool-and with means for moving theribbon, letter by letter, to the left. The typewriter, assuming that thecharacters are to be formed upon the ribbon by typing and not byperforating or embossing, must also be provided with means for inkingthe type, preferably an ink-ribbon. (The ink-ribbon should not beconfused with the ribbon upon which the characters are formed.)

The typewriter is, of course, provided Willil'iiilC proper characterkeys, whereby the characters are typed upon the ribbon, and is furtherprovided with the usual keys such as spacing key, case shift key, etc.The key-board will have, in addition, special keys peculiar to the novelmethod of printing of this invention. As previously mentioned the ribbonmust be cut into lengths somewhat longer than the length of the completeline of type. A cutting mechanism must, therefore, be provided,constructed as part of the said typewriter, to sever the ribbon upon thecompletion of a line of character-formation thereon. Where the ribbon issupplied as strips of proper lengths, there is no need for a cuttingmechanism; instead a magazine of ribbon strips will be provided.

(2) The step of character formation has already been discussed. Thisstep occurs simultaneously with the ribbon-preparation step and theletter spacing of the ribbonto the left; as stated, the formation ofletters, as by typing or stenciling, occurs on the typewriter previouslymentioned.

(3) In the previous step of character formation V-shape formation isgiven to the ribbon .at each point where a space between words occurs.That is, the letters of words appear in the ribbon as characterformations and the spaces between such words appear as V-shapecrimpings.

These ribbon crimpings or V-shape indentations are designated :z:-y--z.in Figures 1 and 2, and. are formed by appropriate male and female V-shaped dies, which are caused to function at the typing point, i. e. atthe same point where the characters are formed.

- Instead of the ribbon being crimped or folded at the spaces betweenwords, it may be completely severed at these points, so that each wordis represented by a short piece of ribbon. These pieces of ribbon may belike the crimped ribbon, either brought to the assemblage of spacers andbackers and there secured thereto, or the spacers, hackers and pieces ofribbon may be assembled at or adjacent to the typing point.

(4) In the step of assembling is included the placing of the backers aand the spacers b in the proper position and relation to thecharacter-formations and the V-crimpings of the ribbon. A characterformation (i. e. a letter) calls for a backer, whereas a crimping orV-indentation (occurring at spaces between words) calls for a spacer. Itshould be noticed that the spacers are set back from the ribbon face ofthe backers so as to provide clearance for the V-shaped crimping orindentation, see Figs. 1 and 2.

The ribbon moves leftward, letter after letter, from thecharacter-forming machine (e. g. the typewriter) and is backed up byeither a spacer or a backer. The assemblage of the ribbon with therequired backers and spacers may occur at diiferent'locations relativeto the character-forming machine and indifferent manners. For example,the backers and spacers may be positioned behind the ribbon at a pointin the character-forming machine directly or substantially behind or inalignment with the typing point. Or this point of positioning thebackers and spacers may be located to the left of the typing point adistance substantially equal to a letter space, so that, as onecharacter is being formed, the immediately preceding or space is beingbacked up by a backer or spacer, respectively.

In said both methods the backed up ribbon continues to move leftward asthe step of assembling progresses letter by letter, the spacers andbackers moving solidly with the ribbon.

Another method of assembling might be to locate the point of assemblingthe spacers and back ers, at a considerable distance from the typing orother formation point, and to assemble the spacers and backersindependently of the ribbon and then to bring the ribbon to theassembled backers and spacers. In this method there would be two pointsor locations to consider, namely, the typing point and the assemblingpoint. As a character is being formed at the typing point, a backer isassembled at the assembling point, and as a crimping or indenting ismade at the typing point, a spacer is assembled at the assembling point.When the complete line has been formed on the ribbon at the typing pointand a corresponding assemblage of backers and spacers has been broughttogether at the assembling point, the completed ribbon is then movedinto its proper position in relation to the assembled spacers andbackers so that the characters .are backed up by their propercorresponding backers and the crimpings or indentations coincide withthe spacers and fit in the clearances provided at the spacers by reasonof the fact, as already stated, that the spacers are set back from theribbon face of the backers.

The ribbon is then pressed against the assemblage of backers andspacers, that part of the ribbon bearing character formations coming incontact with the ribbon faces of the backers and the crimpings fittingin the clearances left at the spacers. That part of the ribbon bearingthe character formations must be secured to the backers, and this may bedone by gluing the ribbon to the backers, the ribbon may be mechanicallysecured thereto, or held in proper position by instrumentalities on themachine.

(5) After the ribbon is united to the assemblage of hackers and spacersby being secured to the former, or by being held in proper relationthereto, the line is then justified by expanding or contracting thespacers. The spacers may be any type of ordinary space-bands, usuallyoperating on the double inclined-plane principle. That is, space-bandsare commonly made in two parts, a stationary part and a movable part,the juncture between the two being an inclined plane or wedge. By movingthe movable part in relation to the fixed part, the space-band isexpanded by a thicker portion of the wedge, or is contracted by athinner portion of the Wedge, coming in the line between the backers. Inthe step of justification a universal bar moves the movable part of thespacers to wedge the backers so as to increase the space or distancebetween the backers, i. e.;

between words. Where the line is contracted, the universal bar is movedin the opposite direction, and a push-rod or other means operatesagainst the last backer to compress the backers, spacers and ribbon tothe proper length.

In expanding the assemblage (spacers, backers and ribbon) from 3 to 2,it is apparent that more ribbon would be required, inasmuch as thedistance l--2 is greater than the distance I-3; the extra length ofribbon is taken from the crimpings or V-shape indentations of theribbon; which, as already explained are provided at the spaces betweenwords. In the unjustified line, the crimped ribbon forms a V of adefinite size, i. e. of a definite depth and a definite opening.

The opening is substantially equal to the space d between words in theunjustified line. The angle of the V is likewise of a definite degree.During the step of justification, more particularly, in expanding orspreading the line to completely fill up the line of type from I to 2,the spacers are expanded, and the crimpings or indentations are altered,in that, the opening of the. V is increased, the depth is decreased, andthe angle of the V is made larger in degree. hand, when the line iscompressed by contracting the spacers, the opening of the V isdecreased, its depth is increased and its angle is made smaller. Compare:ry--e in Figure 1 with my-z in Figure 2.

It is thus seen that by the crimping or foldingv On the other forations.

sented by the ribbon, may be photographed. The

;(6) The last step is that of printing. The actual printing may beaccomplished in a number of ways; the method of printing will alsodepend upon the kind of character formation in or upon the ribbon. Asmentioned above, characters may be formed upon the ribbon by typing, byperforating, by embossing, by engraving, etc.

Where the characters are typed upon the ribbon, one method of printingwould be to press the justified line (i. e. the justified ribbon withits assemblage of spacers and backers) against the sheet provided forreceiving the impression from the ribbon. This receiving sheet is showndiagrammatically by the line A in Figure 2. That is, the entireassemblage of ribbon, backers and spacers are pressed bodily against thesheet. Instead of pressing the assemblage of ribbon, backers and spacersagainst the stationary sheet and platen, the platen and sheet may bepressed against the assemblage of ribbon, backers and spacers, whichremain stationary. Or, the printing motion may be rotary, in the mannerof ro tary presses. In this case, the assemblage may be fixed on a pivotor trunnion and given the necessary rotary movement to bring the type incontact with the sheet; or the platen may be in the form of a cylinderor segment and moved to take an impression from the fixed assemblage.The sheet is then line-spaced to present a fresh surface for the nextribbon bearing the characters making up the next line. The printing maytake place on that part of the machine where the ribbon is justified, orthe assemblage may be moved further to the left and the printingcompleted at another part of the machine.

Instead of taking the impression from the typed and, therefore,ink-laden characters, the characters may be perforated and theimpression taken, through such stencil, from an inked surface (on thebackers, for example) behind the per- Or if the characters have beenembossed upon the ribbon, they may be inked in an appropriate manner,and an impression taken from the raised type.

As an alternative method, each line, as reprephotographic plate may thenbe letter spaced to take an impression of the following line of matter.This plate, which may be the negative where the characters have not beenreversed" when formed on the ribbon (so as to give a direct positive),may be used as the master plate in reproducing the required number ofcopies.

The sheet bearing the impressions from the series of ribbons, eachforming a line of the compositions, may be the final copy. Manifestly,such a sheet may be used as a master from which any number of copies maybe taken by photography, or otherwise.

Still another method would be to make up a form or frame of the seriesof ribbons each representing a line, and to use such a form in makingduplicates, as in a printing press. This method of using a form, frame,or plate could be used, whether the character formation is by typing,perforating or engraving. Manifestly, where a form or frame is made upof the series of ribbons each representing a line, the spacers (orspacebands) must be removed, inasmuch as they are of considerablelength, very much longer than the distance between the lines of type.

sion of the spacers beyond the backers would prevent the line-assemblage(of backers, spacers and ribbon) from being brought back to back, whichthey must be in making up the plate or frame. Hence the spacers must beremoved from the line-assemblage.

After a line is justified, the backers (and consequently the letters andwords) are maintained in their proper position by reason of the presenceof the spacers. Hence if the spacers are removed, provision must be madefor maintaining the backers in proper position in the line of type. Thisis shown in Figures 3 and 4. These views show part of a line of threewords, with the spacers already removed.

The construction of the backers is shown, in

side elevation, in Figure 4. A notch is cut out' of the bottom of thebacker and a notch 6, which may be similar, is cut out at the top of thebacker. The bottom notch 5 is made of sufiicient size to permit a bar'I'to fit therein so as to present a flush bottom. A top bar 8 fits inthe top notch 6, and likewise presents a flush top. The bars 1 and 8 aresubstantially the same size and may be somewhat longer than the line oftype. In Figure 3, which is a plan view, the top bar 8 is broken awiayto disclose a portion of the bottom bar 1.

In assembling the backers and spacers, the backers are positioned torest on the bottom bar 1 with their bottom notches 5 fitting flushthereon. In the assembling, the spacers are also positioned in theirproper places between the backers to separate words. The assemblage,including the ribbon, is then justified, as. already explained. Then thetop bar 8 is placed above the backers and fitted in the top notches 6'of the backers. Means is provided for securing the top and bottom barstogether. done by providing the bottom bar with a hole 9 at each end,beyond the end backers. The top bar is provided at each end with a pinII], which fits rather tightly in the said holes 9 in the bottom bar. Bybringing the top bar over the backers resting in the bottom bar andfitting it in the top notches of the backers and forcing the two barstogether the pins [0 of the top bar will fit in the holes 9 of thebottom bar and, by reason of the tight fit between pins and holes, thebackers will be securely held in fixed position between the bars.Thereafter the spacers may be removed. The assemblage of backers, barsand ribbon, representing one line of type, is then placed, as a unit, inthe frame, plate or form. The line-assemblages, each constituted of atop and bottom bar with the backers secured therebetween and the ribbonsecured to the backers, are placed back to back in the frame or form.

The frame, plate or form, made up of barassemblages, to make thecomposition from which duplication is carried out, may be either a flatframe or a cylindrical one, i. e. may be either used in flat pressprinting or in rotary printing. Where the bar assemblages are .to beused in a cylindrical form, the top and bottom. faces of the backers arenot parallel to each other but are divergent towards the ribbon face ofthe backers a slight degree, becoming, in fact, sectors of a cylinder.The ribbon face of the backers are curved to conform to the circle ofthe cylinder. When the backers are placed back to back, line by line,they will, due to their being properly segmental, form a true cylinderand present, due to the curved ribbon face, a cylindrical face.

In this method of making up a duplicating frame or form, the charactersmay be embossed,

Conveniently this may beengraved, typed, or stenciled on the ribbon. Themethod of printing and of inking will depend upon the kind of characterformation.

Where the characters are embossed and a cylindrical form is used, theprocess of printing will be quite like multigraphy, with the addition,of course, of justified lines. Where the characters are typed on theribbon, the process will be somewhat less like multigraphy.

Where the characters are perforated, the printing will be quite likemimeography, especially if a rotary cylinder is used.

In carrying out mimeographic printing, the backers may be provided withink holes i i running from the rear of the backers to their ribbon face.The ribbon face of the backers may be treated or provided with a layerof proper absorbent material [2 to retain the ink fed to it by the inkholes H. Inasmuch as the ribbon c is perforated with characters, formingin eifect a stencil, the exposed portions of the ink-pad 52 will presentthe proper characters for printing. Ink is supplied to the rear openingsof the ink holes H. Where a rotary cylinder is used, centrifugal forcewill cause the ink to flow in ink holes to the outside or ribbon face ofthe backers, to keep the ink pad 1 2 properly supplied with ink.

When the printing is performed from a plate, the ribbon assemblages are,of course, not broken up until the required number of copies have beenmade. Where the printing is from a master sheet, as by photographicmethods, the ribbon assemblage may be broken up immediately after theline is printed upon the sheet.

Still another method would be to print the assembled line and to breakup the assemblage and to provide means for automatically assorting thespacers and backers so that they may be automatically returned to theproper reservoir, thus always keeping the supply of spacers or backersreplenished where they are needed at the character-forming machine. Suchan arrangement would be a great deal like the ordinary typewriter,except that it would give justified lines.

The following method seems particularly suitable in a justifiedtypewriter, and has the advantage that a small number of backers andspacers need be used. The number of backers required need not be greaterthan the maximum number of characters in any one line of type and thenumber of spacers, not greater than the maximum number of spaces betweenwords. (The number of spacers required is less than the number ofbackers for the reason that the number of spaces in a line is very muchless than the num; ber of characters). This stock of backers and spacersis in constant use, i. e. as a line is formed and printed, the backersand spacers, are used again in the next ensuing line.

In this method of justified typing, the stock of backers is fed, i. e.letter spaced, as required from a backer-supply point; whenever a spaceis left between words, a spacer is fed, from another direc tion, from aspacer-supply point. After the line is assembled, justified and printed,the spacers are removed from their positions in the line and returned tothe spacer-supply point, and the backers are moved back, in the oppositedirection from which they were letter-spaced, to the backer-supplypoint.

In this method, the ribbon is not glued to the backers, but isreleasably secured to them. Instead of being secured to the backers, theribbon may be merely held in a proper position in relation to theassemblage of backers and spacers.

For example, after the spacers and backers have been assembled at theassemblage point and the characters and crimpings formed at the typingpoint and after the ribbon has been brought to the assemblage of spacersand backers, the ribbon may be held, as by a plate, against theassemblage with the crimpings reposed in the clearances afforded at thespacers. With the ribbon held in this position, the line is justified.Then the holding means or plate is removed, and thereafter the line isprinted. Since the ribbon is not secured to the assemblage, it may bereadily removed in the breaking up of the line.

Manifestly, any of the above methods maybe performed without the stepofjustification. For example, the characters may be formed on the ribbonwhich is then moved in position to be printed or assembled in a printingframe or form.

Where the printing, in any of the above methods, is from the justifiedline, either the whole assemblage of ribbon, spacers and backers may bepressed against the platen or the platen may be pressed towards theassemblage. In either case, more than one sheet may be printed from theassembled line. For example, the assemblage after printing on one sheetmay be moved further from the typewriter to print on the next sheet, andthis may be continued, depending upon the number of platens provided. Ora multiple platen may be used, which is in the form of a rotary cylinderwith a number of platens thereon. The platen is brought in successivesteps in position opposite to the assemblage and the line printed on theseveral sheets on the platens. The platens are then all simultaneouslyline spaced. This method lends itself to the printing or typing ofletters, in which diiferent names. and addresses are required for eachletter.

The justified typewriter above described may embody the followingmodification. In place of providing a ribbon upon which the charactersare formed, the characters may be formed, more particularly printed ortyped, directly upon the backers, which would, of course, have theirfaces made receptive to the type. The faces may be made of rubber, forexample. After an impression has been taken from the justified line, thespacers and backers are returned to their respective supply points; inreturning the hackers to their supply point or reservoir, or at anypoint in the operation, the typed or inked faces thereof are cleaned sothat fresh faces will be presented for the characters forming theensuing line.

Wherever in the following claims the term expansive is used, it isintended to be used in a, generic sense and to include contractive.Also, for brevity in the appended claims, the expression formingcharacters is employed in a generic sense to include typing, printing,stenoiling, perforating, embossing, etc. By duplicative characters ismeant characters from which copies may be duplicated. By crimping ismeant crimping, indenting, folding or making a V-formation in theribbon.

Wherever in the following claims the term printing is used, it isintended to be used in a generic sense and to include all possible waysof making an original composition and reproductions or duplicationsthereof, whether by direct printing, typing, mimeographing,multigraphing, photographing, photo-engraving, etc.

I claim:

1. The method of printing composition-matter which method employs aribbon upon which duplicative characters may be formed, and backers as afoundation for the characters formed on the ribbon and spacers for thespaces left between words, the step of forming the characters upon theribbon, the step of crimping the ribbon at the spaces left betweenwords, and the step of placing individual backers in association witheach character formed on the ribbon and placing the spacers inassociation with the crimpings made in the ribbon.

2. In the method of printing which employs a ribbon upon whichduplicative characters are formed, backers as a foundation for thecharacters formed on the ribbon and spacers for the spaces left on theribbon between characters, the step of associating individual backersfor each character formed on the ribbon and the step of securing theportions of the ribbon bearing the characters to the backers.

3. The method of printing which employs a ribbon upon which duplicativecharacters are formed and backers as a foundation for the characters andspacers, which method comprises the steps of associating individualbackers with each character formed on the ribbon crimping the ribbon atthe spaces left between words to form V- formations having a, definitedepth, opening and angle, positioning the spacers at the crimpings madein the ribbon, and expanding the spacers to cause the characters tooccupy the line from left margin to right margin and to alter the depth,opening and angle of the V-formations crimped in the ribbon.

4. The method of printing which employs a ribbon, backers and spacers,which method comprises the steps of forming characters on the ribbon,crimping the ribbon at the spaces left between words, positioning thebackers in association with the characters formed on the ribbon and thespacers in association with the crimpings made in the ribbon, securingthe ribbon to the backers, justifying the line, maintaining the backersin justified position, and removing the spacers. i

5. The method of printing which employs a ribbon upon which duplicativecharacters are formed and backers for the characters, comprising thesteps of forming characters on the ribbon and placing individual backersin association with each character in groups of words, and separatingthe words by crimping the ribbon.

6. The method of printing which employs a ribbon upon which duplicativecharacters are formed and backers, the steps of assembling the backersin word groups accumulating the ribbon at the spaces between word groupsof backers, justifying the backers and ribbon representing a line, andtaking a photographic impression of the justified line.

'7. The method of printing which employs a ribbon upon which duplicativecharacters are formed, backers and spacers, which method comprises thesteps of forming characters on the ribbon and crimping the ribbon at thespaces between words; assembling a backer for each character formed, anda spacer for each crimping made; and bringing the ribbon to theassembled backers and spacers so that characters are positioned inassociation with their backers and the crimpings are positioned inassociation with their spacers so that the crimpings on the ribbonseparate groups of backers each constituting a word,

8. The method of printing which employs a ribbon upon which duplicativecharacters are formed and which is crimped at the spaces between words,hackers and spacers, which method comprises the steps of positioningindividual backers in association with each character, and

the spacers in association with the crimpings and justifying the line bycontracting the spacers orexpanding the'spacers.

9. In a device of the class described, an assemblage constituting linesof type adapted to fit into a form, each line of which comprises aribbon bearing duplicative characters and having crimpings betweenwords, backers for the characters secured to the ribbon, and means forrigidly maintaining the backers in justified position.

10. An assemblage constructed in accordance with claim 9 in which thelast mentioned means comprises two bars somewhat longer than the line oftype, fitting in notches provided in the backers and means for securingthe two bars together as a unit.

11. The method of printing which employs a ribbon upon which duplicativecharacters are formed and in which crimpings are made between words,backers and spacers, which method comprises the steps of associatingindividual backers with each character and the spacers with thecrimpings, justifying the line, and assembling the justified lines intoa frame or form.

12. In the method described which employs a ribbon upon which is formeda duplicative line of composition, a backer for each character formed onthe ribbon which comprises an ink receptive face, means for feeding inkfrom its opposite face to the said ink receptive face, and means formaintaining the backer in line position. 7

13. The method of printing which employs a ribbon upon which duplicativecharacters are formed and which is crimped between words, backersandspacers, comprising the steps of assembling spacers and backers,bringing the ribbon to the assemblage of spacers and ribbons, holdingthe ribbon with its characters positioned at the backers and itscrimpings at the spacers, justifying the line, and printing therefrom.

14. The method of printing which employs a ribbon, spacers and backers,comprising the steps of feeding the backers, character by character,from a backer-supply point, supplying spacers between the spaces leftbetween word groups of backers from a spacer-supply point, justifyingthe line assemblage of ribbon, spacers and backers, printing from thejustified line, removing the spacers from their position in the lineassemblage and returning them to the spacer-supply point, and moving thebackers back to the backer-supply point. 7

15. In the method of printing which employs a ribbon upon whichduplicative characters are formed and which is crimped to allow forjustification, the step of accumulating the ribbon at the spaces leftbetween words by crimping the ribbon at these points, and the step ofjustifying the ribbon by further accumulating the ribbon equal amountsat these points.

16. In the method of printing which employs a ribbon upon whichduplicative characters are formed and individual backers for eachindivid-- ual character-formation made upon the ribbon, the step offorming a character upon the ribbon and the step of securing the portionof the ribbon upon which the said individual character was formed, to anindividual backer.

17. The method of printing composition-matter which method employs aribbon upon which duplicative characters may be formed, and backers as afoundation for the characters formed on the ribbon and spacers for thespaces left between words, the step of forming a character upon theribbon and concurrently associating a backer with the character formedon the ribbon, and the step of crimping the ribbon between words andconcurrently associating a spacer with the crimping made in the ribbon.

18. The method of printing which employs backers upon a face of whichcharacters may be formed, and spacers, comprising the steps of formingcharacters upon the face of the backers; feeding the backers, characterby character, from a backer-supply point; supplying spacers betweenspaces left between word groups of backers, from a spacer-supply point;justifying the line assemblage of backers and spacers; printing from thejustified backers; returning the spacers and backers to their respectivesupply points; and removing the characters formed on the face of thebackers.

19. The art of printing comprising the following steps in the ordergiven forming characters on unbroken ribbons of inelastic material eachrepresenting lines of composition, justifying the ribbons, andassembling the justified ribbons representing the composition.

20. The art of printing comprising the steps of perforating characterson ribbons representing lines of composition, justifying the ribbons,assembling the justified ribbons representing the composition, andsupplying ink to the perforated characters.

21. In a device of the class described, a ribbon upon which charactersare formed to present a duplicative printing surface and which at thespaces between words is crimped rearwardly of the said printing surface;backers for the characters, to the faces of which the ribbon is secured;and spacers for the crimpings, set back a sufiicient distance from theface of the backers to provide clearances for the crimpings.

22. The method of printing, which employs interchangeable backers,spacers and a ribbon, and which comprises the steps of formingcharacters on the ribbon, providing an individual backer for eachcharacter formed on the ribbon and attaching the ribbon to theindividual backers, providing a spacer between word groups of backers,and severing the ribbon between words.

23. The method of typing justified lines, employing interchangeable unitbackers and adjustable spacers, by providing an array of backers andspacers which correspond to the number and arrangement of characters andspaces in the line to be typed, typing the characters upon the backers,justifying the said array by adjusting the spacers, and taking animpression from the justified backers.

24. The method of printing characters which completely fill the linefrom left margin to right margin, which method employs a ribbon uponwhich duplicative characters may be formed and which is crimped to allowthe ribbon to be justilied, and which method comprises the step offorming characters upon the ribbon in lines which terminate either shortof, or beyond, the right margin, the step of crimping the ribbon at thespaces left between words, and the step of justifying the ribbon byuniformly expanding the crimpings where the formed line terminates shortof the right margin and by uniformly contracting the crimpings where theformed line terminates beyond the right margin.

25. The method of printing characters which completely fill the linefrom left margin to right margin, which method employs a ribbon uponwhich duplicative characters may be formed and which is crimped to allowthe ribbon to be justified, and which method comprises the step ofcrimping the ribbon at the spaces left between words and the step ofjustifying the ribbon by uniformly contracting the crimpings.

26. In the method of printing which employs a ribbon upon whichduplicative characters are formed in word groups and spacers for thespaces between words, the step of crimping the ribbon between words andconcurrently associating a spacer with the crimping made in the ribbon.

27. In the method of printing which employs a ribbon upon whichduplicative characters are formed, and backers as a foundation therefor,the step of forming a character upon the ribbon and concurrentlyassociating an individual backer for each character formed on theribbon.

28. The method of preparing a line of justified composition, employinga' ribbon, backers and spacers, by forming duplicative characters uponthe ribbon and concurrently associating backers therewith, and bycrimping the ribbon between words and concurrently associating spacerstherewith.

29. In a device of the class described, a form comprising a plurality oflines each line comprising a ribbon bearing duplicative characters andhaving crimpings between words, backers for the character bearingportions of the ribbon and secured thereto, and means for maintainingthe backers in justified position.

30. The method of printing which employs a ribbon, spacers and backers,comprising the steps of forming characters on the ribbon, concurrentlyassociating backers therewith and securing the ribbon thereto, crimpingthe ribbon between words, concurrently associating spacers backers aremoved to justify the ribbon.

LEON H. AMDUR.

